Moving to the cloud? Consolidating facilities? Closing an office? Data center decommissioning is a complex project with serious security, compliance, and environmental implications. Use this checklist to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
Phase 1: Planning & Assessment (4-8 Weeks Before)
Assemble Your Team
- ✅ Assign a project manager to own the decommissioning
- ✅ Involve IT, security, compliance, and facilities
- ✅ Engage your ITAD partner early (that's where we come in)
- ✅ Notify your data center provider or landlord of timeline
Complete Asset Inventory
Document every piece of equipment in the space. This sounds tedious but it's critical for security tracking and maximizing recovery value:
- ✅ Servers — make, model, serial number, specs (CPU, RAM, storage)
- ✅ Storage arrays and NAS devices
- ✅ Network equipment — switches, routers, firewalls, load balancers
- ✅ UPS systems and PDUs
- ✅ Cabling — fiber, copper, power cables
- ✅ Racks and cabinets
- ✅ Peripheral equipment — KVM switches, console servers, environmental monitors
Identify Data-Bearing Devices
Flag every device that stores data. This is usually more than you think:
- Server hard drives and SSDs (including RAID arrays)
- SAN and NAS storage
- Backup tapes and appliances
- Network device flash memory (configs, logs)
- Out-of-band management controllers (iDRAC, iLO)
Review Compliance Requirements
- ✅ What regulations apply? (HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOX, GLBA, FERPA)
- ✅ What data destruction standard is required? (NIST 800-88 recommended)
- ✅ What documentation do you need to retain?
- ✅ Are there contractual obligations with clients about data handling?
Learn about NIST 800-88 data destruction standards →
Phase 2: Data Migration & Backup (2-4 Weeks Before)
- ✅ Verify all data has been migrated to new infrastructure
- ✅ Confirm backups of critical systems are complete and tested
- ✅ Document any systems that will be fully retired (not migrated)
- ✅ Test new infrastructure under production load before decommissioning
- ✅ Update DNS records, IP addresses, and firewall rules
- ✅ Plan for a rollback window in case issues arise post-migration
Phase 3: Decommissioning (Execution Day)
Shutdown Sequence
- Applications — graceful shutdown of all services
- Databases — clean shutdown, verify final backups
- Servers — power down after confirming all services stopped
- Storage — disconnect after server shutdown
- Network — last to go down
- Power — UPS and PDU disconnect
Physical Removal
- ✅ Label all equipment with asset tags matching your inventory
- ✅ Photograph equipment in racks before removal (for documentation)
- ✅ Disconnect and organize cabling
- ✅ Secure all loose drives — don't let any walk away
- ✅ Maintain chain of custody from rack to transport
Phase 4: Data Destruction
This is the most critical phase from a security and compliance perspective.
- ✅ All data-bearing media identified and accounted for
- ✅ Destruction method selected per media type and compliance requirements
- ✅ NIST 800-88 Purge — for drives being resold or repurposed
- ✅ NIST 800-88 Destroy — physical shredding for maximum security
- ✅ Certificates of Destruction issued per drive with serial numbers
- ✅ Destruction witnessed or verified by your team (optional but recommended)
Our certified data destruction process →
Phase 5: Asset Disposition
After data is securely destroyed, equipment goes through disposition:
- Resale/Remarketing — equipment with remaining useful life is refurbished and sold on the secondary market. You may receive payment or credit.
- Component Recovery — valuable components (RAM, CPUs, power supplies) are harvested for reuse.
- Material Recycling — remaining materials are processed through certified recycling facilities.
Estimate the recovery value of your equipment →
Phase 6: Documentation & Closure
- ✅ Compile all Certificates of Destruction
- ✅ Complete asset disposition report with final status of each item
- ✅ File chain of custody documentation
- ✅ Update asset management system — mark all items as disposed
- ✅ Cancel colocation, maintenance, and licensing contracts
- ✅ Return access credentials and keys to facility
- ✅ Close out project and conduct lessons-learned review
Common Data Center Decommissioning Mistakes
- Rushing the inventory — missed drives mean untracked data
- Forgetting about tape backups — those boxes of old tapes in the corner
- No chain of custody — equipment going to "somewhere" with no tracking
- Skipping out-of-band management — iDRAC and iLO cards store credentials
- Not involving compliance early — discovering requirements after the fact
- Underestimating timeline — plan for 2x your initial estimate
How EverTrade Makes Decommissioning Easy
We've helped Houston businesses of all sizes decommission IT infrastructure. Our service includes:
- Free pickup — we come to your data center or server room
- Complete inventory support — we'll help catalog everything
- NIST 800-88 certified data destruction with full documentation
- Asset remarketing — maximize recovery value from usable equipment
- Zero landfill recycling — for everything that can't be reused
- Single point of contact — one vendor for the entire process
Planning a Data Center Decommission?
Call (832) 777-5620 to discuss your project. We'll help you plan the process, schedule pickup, and handle everything from data destruction to final recycling.
Get Started →